Big Fish To Fry for Yoshida's Lions

All smiles at the pre-match press conference in Miramar Hotel.

The Singapore Lions will face Solomon Islands' national football team, the Bonitos, in an 'A' international friendly on Saturday, June 8th.

On paper, the Bonitos are ranked 139th in the world, and should present a considerable challenge for the 160th-ranked home side. But both Bonitos head coach Wim Rijsbergen (above, centre right) and captain Benjamin Totori (far right) rejected the claims that they would be "favourites".

Rijsbergen, the former Indonesia technical director, said he is somewhat familiar with how football is played in the region, but conceded that they know little about the Singapore side. "Even if we are ranked higher, what it will bring tomorrow, I have no idea." He was prepared to "let it be a surprise... in our favour, of course, but that's another story."

"We know it's gonna be tough," said Totori. "The team is (prepared for) a good game, a tough game," he added. "We've been watching some clips on YouTube," he admitted.

Totori plays for Fijian club Lautoka FC, but has had experience in the United States and New Zealand with Waitakere United where team-mate Andrew Abba is currently based. Most of the squad plays in their domestic competition, the eight-team S-League.

The Solomon Islands have just completed a seven-match training tour in the Netherlands against lower-league and amateur teams, winning four and drawing one ahead of their Pacific Games tournament in July.

Singapore head coach Tatsuma Yoshida has had about four days to implement his "new approach" after the end of the fasting month, and is not that concerned about "the details" for the time being. "It is important that they play to heart," he said.

Captain Hariss Harun agreed, saying that the various players had their own style and that Yoshida was working on the finer details of fitting "the pieces of the jigsaw" together.

"We will take advantage of the fact we're playing at home, at the Sports Hub," opined Hariss, expecting the Lions to take Yoshida's advice to heart.

Just how the 18-man squad will grow into Yoshida's tactics remains to be seen, but the friendly match will be a challenge the Bonitos are sure not to flake.